Arkansas Mom Poses Problem for Common Core
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Karen Lamoreaux, a mother and former National Honor Society member, made waves last month when she appeared before the Arkansas State Board of Education to voice her concerns over the state’s adoption of Common Core national standards. Lamoreaux asked board members to solve a simple math problem.
“Are you ready? Get your pencils out. I’m not kidding,” she said with a big smile captured on video. “Are you smarter than a Common Core fourth-grader? Let’s find out.”
If a class of 18 students counts off by a certain number and ends up with 90, she asked board members, what number did they count by? A board member quickly and correctly answered “5” and explained that she got the number by dividing 90 by 18. That’s how most of us were taught to find the answer, Lamoreaux responded, but the federal Common Core standards require students to take 108 steps to solve the problem. She held up a chart to make her point.
“This is not rigorous. This is not college-ready,” Lamoreaux, who said she has 12 years of college education, told the Arkansas board. “This is not preparing our children to compete in a global economy.”
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